The present invention relates to a bucket mechanism, particularly a ship unloader, which includes at least one rotating traction member to which the individual receiving elements are fastened.
German Unexamined Published Patent Application DE-OS 2,717,109 relates to an endless conveyor for bringing up bulk materials by means of bucket or box shaped conveying units which are arranged along an endless carrier guided around reversal rollers that have a horizontal rotation axis. Each conveying unit has a transporting wall that connects two side walls and carries along the bulk material. The conveying units each have an liner that places itself against the interior of the transporting wall and is configured and mounted so as to be movable in itself within limits in the conveying direction relative to the transporting wall. The transporting walls are mounted so as to be pivotal within limits in their base regions and are subdivided in height at least once by way of hinges. The liners are configured as aprons of a rubber-elastic material that are fastened in the region of the carrier. Bucket mechanisms of this type are suitable to produce good material removal in the discharge region particularly since the material has less of a tendency to bake onto the rubber than onto the actual receiving element which is generally made of steel. If such a bucket mechanism is employed, for example, as a ship unloader, the danger exists that the buckets that are in engagement are pushed onto the material during unloading of bulk material from a ship that is pitching in the waves and may be deformed depending on the hardness of the material. The same also applies for removal of remainders in which case the ship's bottom is in the direct vicinity of the buckets.